In the Spotlight: KEYLENS, the Latest Addition to the Prophet Family
This new acquisition deepens Prophet’s strength in transformation, digitalization and efficiency.
Why did combining the forces of Prophet and KEYLENS make sense right now? KEYLENS owners Dr. Jörg Meurer and Dr. Stephan Schusser, and Prophet’s EMEA Regional Lead and Senior Partner, Tobias Bärschneider, discuss the opportunities for collaboration, human values and why both consulting firms complement each other so well.
What excited you most about the potential of Prophet and KEYLENS working together and why now?
Dr. Jörg Meurer: Our company had gotten to a size that made us think about the next step, which actually reminds me of crossing a stream in the mountains. For that, you always need the next stone to get to the other bank. We needed a stone for the topic of digitization, one for the topic of data analytics and one for internationalization. Prophet offered us these stones. Prophet’s solid value proposition and our ambitions go hand-in-hand. With our two firms having been on similar journeys, from our beginnings in branding, and aligned in our human-centric approach to growth and transformation, these synergies and shared philosophies made the decision easy. We now have the opportunity to scale on a national as well as an international level. I’m thrilled to be working with, and learning from, new colleagues across the globe.
Dr. Stephan Schusser: We view our clients as true partners. We don’t want to ‘just’ advise companies, we want to collaborate to develop transformational strategies and solutions to help them achieve their business objectives and build resilience focused on the market and their customers. Prophet thinks and works as we do at KEYLENS, where ‘human-first’ leads the way, finding ways to deliver value in new ways for employees and clients.
“With our two firms having been on similar journeys, from our beginnings in branding, and aligned in our human-centric approach to growth and transformation, these synergies and shared philosophies made the decision easy.”
Tobias Bärschneider: The KEYLENS team is a passionate group of people led by two exceptional leaders in Jörg and Stephan. Their expertise in strategy, analytics and digital marketing will strengthen our competencies and enable us to be true ‘end-to-end partners’ for our clients. This is a truly exciting new growth chapter for Prophet in Europe and I am delighted that we are joining forces and embarking on this together, deepening our ever-growing multidisciplinary and multicultural firm.
As a consultancy that has largely been servicing SME companies, which industries have KEYLENS been specializing in?
Dr. Stephan Schusser: We have built up special expertise in four industries: luxury, tourism, retail and construction supply and our clients value our thought leadership and insights in these dedicated areas. Over the years, we have created knowledge-sharing programs and networking platforms to bring senior executives together and discuss the opportunities and challenges faced around pressing topics such as sales of the future, service concepts and digital transformation. With these formats and our strategy work, we create reports and studies informed by our close relationships with key market players and business leaders. These concepts are something we’re excited to extend to new industries in which Prophet operates and looks to scale nationally and internationally.
How are you managing and supporting employees through this change?
Dr. Jörg Meurer: There is no question that our employees are excited and will benefit from further learning and development opportunities. Stephan and I have invested a lot in our culture and team building over the past ten years. It is something that is very important to us. We have an above-average retention rate and also a diverse team. We’re thrilled that Prophet similarly invests in its culture in the same way. Change starts with our people; their needs are considered in every decision and are at the center of our change strategy. And that is now the focus of the next steps. We will bring the teams together, get to know each other and define the way forward together. We’re looking forward to what’s coming and firmly believe in our joint success with Prophet.
We believe that with KEYLENS joining the Prophet family, we can both build on highly complementary access to relevant client segments, a team with strong capabilities that is a great fit with our team in EMEA and overall very similar business philosophies. We’re excited to now shift our attention to jointly working on a smooth integration process that brings the best of both companies to the forefront.
Prophet Launches Extended Pro-Bono Consulting Program
Using a new agile-sprint approach, our pro-bono team helped this nonprofit in Kenya formalize its brand.
We’re shaking things up at Prophet Impact! This year we are using a new rotation model to offer uninterrupted support and build stronger relationships with our non-profit partners. Though pro-bono work with organizations that speak to our heart continues to fuel our passion to make the world a better place, we’re doing it differently.
We’ve dedicated a team of Propheteers that’s sole responsibility is to dive into the pro-bono work for non-profits, including the sourcing of organizations as well as the projects themselves for a month or more at a time. By fully immersing themselves in the project, the Prophet Impact team finds solutions that are on target and transformative, helping worthy nonprofits achieve next-level growth, just like our corporate clients.
Our First Pro-Bono Client
KenSAP, an educational organization based in Kenya, became the first to benefit from this pod-based transformation, thanks to Shina Leboo, a senior associate based out of Chicago. The nonprofit guides gifted students, many from remote rural areas, to distinguished U.S. colleges by helping them navigate the complexities of the U.S. immigration system, college entrance exams and university applications.
Shina, an alumna of the program and on KenSAP’s board of directors, knew the organization could benefit from Prophet’s insights and strategy work, specifically when it came to storytelling and communications. It needed a formalized brand and a standardized story.
“The deliverables were exactly what we needed and came with a level of detail we wouldn’t have reached on our own.”
With Prophet’s expertise in developing brands and brand stories, KenSAP was a natural fit for the first pod-based approach. “Pitching KenSAP for Prophet Impact was a quick conversation, and I didn’t feel like I had to struggle at all to explain it,” Shina says. “It made me realize what a good decision I’d made in joining Prophet. In some companies, you need to be around for years before you can speak that openly.”
Jill Steele, partner and leader of Prophet Impact, says Shina’s intense connection to the organization kicked off the program strongly. “She had so much passion for KenSAP – both as a participant and a board member – and that’s what makes the difference,” Jill said.“There are many great nonprofits we could work with. But by selecting those that are not only aligned with Prophet’s social impact focus areas but also deeply meaningful to our people, we can create solutions that have maximum impact.”
Elevating Brand Story and Impact
Free from other client duties, the team dug right in with a four-week, agile sprint to develop the brand story and corresponding tactical communication tools. Building on interviews with stakeholders — students, alumni and donors – the work showcases what makes KenSAP unique and important. Instead of focusing simply on programs and activities, it elevated the brand story, emphasizing aspirations and impact.
Most importantly, the frameworks were designed to easily adapt across audiences and channels and effortlessly executed by the organization’s small staff, which is often pulled in different directions. The marketing roadmap provided a foundation for communicating with universities, employers and donors and functioned well on its website, in digital communications and in the organization’s annual report.
The result was a major win for KenSAP. “The Prophet team listened, not overwhelming us and understanding that we’re a small organization,” says Alan Davidson, Executive Director of KenSAP.
Rewarding Work For Prophet’s People:
Jarrett Fein, San Francisco
“Of course, we always believe we are doing good work for our clients. But at the end of this engagement, it was so gratifying to hear the client say, ‘You can’t imagine how much this is going to help us.’ That confirmed everything – not just the solutions we provided but also to validate this immersive, fast-paced approach we designed worked.”
Shina Leboo, Chicago
“My role on this project was advisory, but even from that vantage point, it solidified my perception that Prophet fully intends to do as much as possible with each pro-bono project. It was also fascinating to see where the work led. Because the group was 100% devoted to the project, it was easier for KenSAP to achieve a much higher confidence level. ”
Ammar Mahesri, Chicago
“I was moved by how focused KenSAP is on achieving its mission and serving its communities, despite being burdened with the administrative hurdles that nonprofits face. And I’m most proud of how quickly we were able to do it, delivering a complete solution to a complex problem. Because of this work, more young people are going to get the education they deserve.”
Becca Thorpe, New York
“Navigating cultural differences can be a lot, and I’m so impressed that these students are able to balance it all on top of a heavy academic load. On the project, I loved the way the team jumped right in and I felt like it paid off. ”
Prophet is committed to moving society forward, focusing on equality, social mobility and sustainability. This year alone, we will donate more than four thousand hours of pro and low-bono work to help organizations achieve these goals. Learn more about Prophet Impact.
Our colleagues share 21 books they can’t put down right now.
Every year we ask our Propheteets to share their top reads. From murder mystery and romance to personal memoirs and solid business reads, this year, our book worms have compiled quite the list. So, whether you’re someone looking for a story to immerse yourself in during your first time back commute, your rescheduled COVID-19 vacation flight or just your poolside summer hangout – there is surely a book ready for you to check out.
Our Consultant-Curated Summer Reading List:
Novels:
“Apeirogon”
by Colum McCann
McCann shines a new light on the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis. See how this unlikely friendship of two fathers develops into a partnership where both use their grief as a weapon for peace.
“Five Little Indians”
by Michelle Goode
This compassionate and insightful novel shares the struggles and conquests of five Candian Indian residential school survivors. Goode offers a story that’s not only timely but well-plotted with truly authentic characters.
“Klara and the Sun”
by Kazuo Ishiguro
What does it mean to love? Ishiguro’s novel probes the nature of human existence and the definition of love with a hint of sci-fi and zero sappiness.
“The Golem and the Jinni”
by Helene Wecker
Wrecker’s debut novel is a marvelous read about an unlikely connection between two supernatural creatures in turn-of-the-century, immigrant New York.
Real Life Reads:
“Born a Crime”
by Trevor Noah
This compelling, coming-of-age story takes the reader on several twists and turns. From being forced to hid in his home to on the run, you never know what Noah’s next challenge will be.
“Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water”
by Marc Reisner
Set in the American West, this story showcases the relentless quest for the ultimate resource – water. Read how the earliest settlers were lured by the promise of paradise, and the cruel tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians seeking city growth.
“Lights Out: Pride, Delusion and the Fall of General Electric”
by Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann
This is the authentic history of General Electric’s epic decline from one of the most iconic corporations in America. The story is also told by the two Wall Street Journal reporters who covered its fall.
“The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World”
by Virginia Postrel
Postrel gives a fascinating perspective on the story of textiles. Explore the growing need and how these materials have driven technology, business, politics and culture.
“The Lost City of the Monkey God”
by Douglas Preston
A tense yet refreshing read bout the real-life adventures, this #1 Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestseller is a timely commentary on colonialism, disease and our interconnected world.
“The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History”
by Elizabeth Kolbert
Kolbert unveils the mass extinction unfolding before our very eyes. This Pulitzer Prize winning book blends intellectual, natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the future of our world.
Reality Check:
“American Dirt”
by Jeanine Cummins
This intense and emotional novel is a deeply personal story about the perils of Latin American migrants. Follow the great ordeal of a Mexican woman who must leave her life behind as she and her son escape to the United States as undocumented immigrants.
“Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency”
by Olivia Laing
There is a common misconception that art cannot change anything. Laing argues it can in her collection of essays explaining the importance of art and culture in times of crisis.
“Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning”
by Cathy Park Hong
In this New York Times bestseller, poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in the United States.
Beach Reads:
“Soft Apocalypse”
by Will McIntosh
What happens when resources become scares, and society starts to crumble? A new normal arises and one must adjust to a vastly different society. Join a tribe of middle-class Americans as they struggle to survive this new and dangerous world.
“The Guest List”
by Lucy Foley
Everyone plans for the perfect wedding, but no one expects the celebration to turn deadly. Find out how this wedding challenges the phrase “For better or worse” dee to its core.
“The Humans”
by Matt Haig
This contemporary novel follows an alien visitor as it discovers the true meaning of life and humanity through a dead human’s body.
Business Builders:
“Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”
by Nir Eyal
Based on years of behavioral design research, Eyal explains how to create and market products that people can’t put down. Someone can think using your product is cool, but it is even better when they get into the habit of using it.
“How to Win Friends and Influence People”
by Dale Carnegie
Despite being written in the 1930s, Carnegie’s book offers strategies on how to deal with people and build solid relationship that can be applied today.
“Humor, Seriously: Why Human is a Secret in Business and Life”
by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas
In corporate culture, one of the biggest misconceptions is that we must act seriously to be taken seriously. Aaker and Bagdonas share the power behind humor in everyday life and the business world.
“Making the Healthcare Shift: The Transformation to Consumer-Centricity”
by Scott M. Davis and Jeff Gourdji
Davis and Gourdji share a practical guide for healthcare leaders across the globe who have the fortitude to transform their organizations to both compete and win in the age of healthcare consumerism.
“Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet”
by Tim Hwang
Follow Hwang as he discusses how digital advertising is on the cusp of collapsing in a way similar to the housing crisis in 2008.
“Whether you’re someone looking for a story to immerse yourself in during your first time back commute, your rescheduled COVID-19 vacation flight or just your poolside summer hangout – there is surely a book ready for you to check out.”
It’s not just us. The pandemic has been good for book sales, as people report reading more–from fiction to memoir to how-to. Sales of print books rose 8.9% this year. Read on, friends.
Prophet Looks Back on a Month of Pride Celebrations
Taking a broader view at what it means to be gay at work, promoting authenticity all 12 months of the year.
During the past month, there was no shortage of memes and think pieces discussing the temporary nature of the celebration of pride, especially for corporate entities. When July 1 hit, the rainbows came down and most were none the wiser. Like all celebratory months or days that acknowledge otherwise underrepresented groups, there’s always a question about why we only do this for a part of the year. Why not celebrate year-round? We’re gay or lesbian or bi or transgender or an ally 365 days a year. The tokenization of minorities of all kinds has come to be an unfortunate hallmark of today’s corporate culture even as businesses invest in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and education.
Pride at Prophet has been in existence for a few years. Prior to the formation of any ERGs (employee resource groups) at Prophet, there was a general shared sense of wellbeing for LGBTQIA+ employees because of the composition of our leadership team, the firm’s clear investment in pro-bono work for relevant causes and the visible sense of recognition that comes with seeing others like you. As the firm grew, a clear need to better acknowledge different, diverse cohorts within the organization became clear, and over the last three years several different affinity groups have naturally— and intentionally —formed to make an impact at Prophet.
“A clear need to better acknowledge different, diverse cohorts within the organization became clear, and over the last three years several different affinity groups have naturally— and intentionally —formed to make an impact at Prophet.”
We’ve celebrated pride as an organization in different ways for many years, but given remote work life, Prophet decided to take a broader approach to Pride Month celebrations this year. With local office teams unable to come together physically, we curated a program of blog posts, panel discussions, virtual events and playlists that put a spotlight on a community that is as diverse as it is unique. But what the program mainly did was show that every part of our business, every region, every role, includes members of the “community.” More than 10% of our firm’s employees directly contributed to this month’s content, highlighting the broad depth of experiences embedded within our company and presenting opportunities for allies to engage, learn, support and uplift LGBTQIA+ community members in various forums.
Panel Discussion: ‘Queer in Consulting’
One of the most impactful events was a panel discussion that featured firm leaders and hit on topics including what it’s like to be “queer” in consulting. It featured U.S. and European managers and partners and spanned across our corporate, strategy, design, digital and delivery teams. The conversation reflected on the unique but shared experiences of panelists while highlighting the diversity of their experiences. Overall, the sentiment conveyed by our panelists was the idea of being extremely lucky — lucky for having professionally grown up in industries in which it wasn’t necessarily hard or at least a not big deal to be gay, and lucky for having found a workplace that always encourages its employees to bring their full, true and complete selves to their job.
Many of our attendees found it eye-opening to hear panelists discuss experiences like having to come out again and again to new teams and clients. One of our panelists spoke about being “in and out” as he transitioned through different companies and roles until he got to the point in his professional and personal development where code-switching was no longer an option. From day one of joining Prophet, he belonged in a culture where he felt truly embraced, if not celebrated. Another panelist talked about the “boys club” environment of the ad world that had surrounded him for most of his career. This made him prioritize finding a workplace that fostered a more diverse environment and eventually led him to become a Propheteer.
A third panelist recalled a statement he had to make during his interview process. In the interview, the panelist explained that he wouldn’t be successful if the firm expected him to change who he fundamentally is and how he expresses himself. For many of us, it’s taken a lifetime to build up the strength and confidence to be our best selves at work. Uncomfortable questions are asked by clients, colleagues make assumptions, we sometimes find ourselves in situations where we feel we don’t belong. Creating a comfortable environment for everyone no matter how they identify is something we are committed to as a firm.
Our programming this year was focused on raising the profile of the impact and broad-ranging reality of the “gay” experience in the workplace and beyond to help celebrate the fact that the diversity of our perspectives makes our business and community stronger.
Prophet’s Pro-Bono Journey With the LGBTQ+ Civil Rights Movement – A 20-Year Journey
Stories–understanding how legal issues impacted the everyday lives of people–turned the tide.
In the spring of 2000, I was approached by a colleague and friend to consider doing some pro-bono work for a small nonprofit with a critical strategy project. I was caught off guard. Our company, relaunched as Prophet Brand in 1999, was in the middle of its first growth surge, powered by David Aaker’s global brand guru status and the Dot.com investment boom. As a young, fast-growing firm, we were having a hard time establishing our culture, growing our team, defining our methodologies and driving high-quality work for paying clients. I struggled to envision how we would be able to free up the time and resources to also do high-quality work for pro-bono clients. My mid-30’s CEO mindset sensed that this was a luxury we couldn’t afford. Luckily for me, this Prophet colleague – Cathy Halligan – didn’t give up. She was determined to help me see why doing this kind of work was consistent with our aspiration as a firm and my hopes as a leader.
The nonprofit organization had a passionate leadership team that enabled some of the only visible wins for its movement in the United States. But, it found itself at a crossroads. Its talented executive director, team and board needed to figure out how to capitalize on its strengths and build a story that would help power the organization and its resources to more transformational impact. As Cathy Halligan consistently argued, Prophet circa 2000 had exactly the right mix of expertise and perspective to help solve this problem. If we weren’t ready to generously apply our time and talents to helping change leaders answer their hardest brand and narrative questions, what were we here for?
Her persuasive words and spirit have stayed with me to this day. Cathy’s determined efforts led us to shape our first pro-bono project in the fall of 2000 with The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. It was the first of what’s become a series of Prophet pro-bono efforts to support a range of US organizations committed to advancing LGBTQ+ civil rights in the United States and globally.
Starting Our Work With LGBTQ+ Civil Rights
It may be hard to remember the state of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement at the turn of the century. Bill Clinton had signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996, stating that marriage could only be between one man and one woman. At the state level, many anti-LGBTQ+ laws and ballot measures were getting passed left, right and center. Also, the AIDS crisis was still roiling the broader LGBTQ+ community. Times felt dark.
The single bright spot of progress was in the courts, where courageous citizens and their lawyers were bringing legal challenges to some of the most oppressive anti-LGBT laws. Lambda Legal and some of its allies were the driving forces behind this strategy. They would identify the most egregious laws that allowed for discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, education, etc., or that still criminalized consensual LGBTQ+ relationship behavior between consenting adults, find plaintiffs who would sue the government asserting that these laws were unconstitutional, and then provide the plaintiffs with all the legal support needed to execute the cases. Through this strategy, Lambda Legal helped win the first HIV/AIDS discrimination case in the 1980s, won a historical legal precedent holding schools accountable for harassment and violence against LGBTQ+ students in the 1990s and achieved broad progress on so many other legal battlefields.
But the organization was made up of lawyers using lawyer-speak in all their communications, was chronically under-funded and was not well-known or understood even within the LGBTQ+ community, let alone the broader public. Our job was to help them land on an aspirational purpose, brand strategy, narrative and roadmap that would help elevate its impact, enable transformative change, dramatically increase its donor base and elevate its reputation among the broader movement.
We unlocked a critical insight – most people didn’t understand how the outcomes of Lambda’s work would impact the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, families and communities. We needed to help them turn their legal strategies into human stories told through the faces and voices of those directly affected. We needed to help them develop a storyline that up-leveled the context of their work – to help people understand how making progress through the courts was an essential building block to advance the movement’s broader civil rights agenda. The selected strategy created a second major plank for the organization – a commitment to investing in dialogue-shaping education, as well as precedent-setting litigation in the pursuit of social justice. The way in which it was embraced and executed fundamentally changed the character and trajectory of Lambda Legal, elevating its influence, dramatically increasing its fundraising prowess and growing its capacity and resources to drive transformative change.
Adding on to the Movement
Later that decade, we found another organization in the LGBTQ+ movement – Equality California – a trailblazer with charismatic leadership and an excellent track record of advancing the most comprehensive set LGBTQ+ legal protections passed by elected officials and politicians anywhere in the United States. Prophet aligned itself to support Equality California when the organization and the movement were at an incredibly low point. Many were blaming the organization for losing the “No on Prop 8” anti-gay marriage California ballot initiative in the 2008 election, in effect ripping away hard-earned marriage rights and putting the legal status of 18,000 same-sex marriages from the previous 4 months in limbo.
Equality California had to learn to acknowledge the mistakes with grace and humility while finding a new way forward. We dug deep to unlock a new set of insights across an array of stakeholders and learned that there was an opportunity to reposition the organization as a champion for full equality for LGBTQ+ Californians, not just same-sex marriage. Getting legal rights was not enough if it didn’t lead to a pervasive change in the “lived” experiences of LGBTQ+ citizens across all dimensions of their lives. And that marriage, while important, was only one of the vital steps in this path to full “lived’ equality.
This kicked off what turned out to be a 10-year plus relationship with leadership at Equality California. Over the course of our partnership, we found many ways to support its leaders and its mission. For example, we helped provide detailed insights work to understand how to shift perceptions of potential allies and voters as LGBTQ+ civil rights were tested through ballot propositions. We also helped with donor growth strategies and volunteer mobilization campaigns.
In 2017 and 2018, we helped the next generation of leaders unlock a new purpose and story for Equality California after the marriage question had been settled. What should “full and lasting” equality look like? There were still dramatic disparities in the health and wellbeing of the community and continuous attacks on the gains that had been achieved. How could Equality California become a movement builder, intersectional and inclusive in nature, and fit for a new era of digital activism, grassroots energy and urgent necessity? We helped them answer these questions, and then retooled the brand along with its look and feel to reflect the new strategy. “Until the work is done” became the phrase that captured the spirit and the intention of this team.
Celebrating 20 Years of Giving Back
While these stories spotlight the bookends of 20 years’ worth of pro-bono energy and commitment to this movement, there have been many other organizations and themes that Prophet teams have touched along the way. We’ve rebranded a groundbreaking leader in its drive to create safe, respectful and healthy K-12 schools for LGBTQ+ students, helped to enrich stories for teams working to redefine LGBTQ+ images in the media and supported leaders tackling the tough issue of LGBTQ+ youth suicide rates and homelessness. No matter what the organization or the issues, committed Propheteers stepped up to the table with energy, expertise, humility and compassion to deconstruct thorny questions, unlock new insights and co-create positive strategies, programs, identities and narratives to move the work forward.
As we launch the next chapter of Prophet Impact, with three focus areas – equality, social mobility and sustainability – my hope is that we can build upon our journey within the LGBTQ+ movement, and the organizations and grassroots advocates who power it. Prophet has grown in scope and scale now, with a deeper set of capabilities to support bold organizations aspiring to drive transformative change. Our experience has taught us that it is only with sustained effort that we can hope to support these movements and organizations in our shared desire to drive enduring, meaningful change. And that we must be prepared to continue to invest, even in the face of demoralizing setbacks, fierce resistance and uneven progress.
I am grateful for Cathy Halligan’s persistence more than 20 years ago, and for all the energy that so many creative, strategic, committed teammates have put into this body of work over the years. So much effort and so much heart have been poured into our collaboration with these trailblazing organizations. Our talents elevate the impact of organizations and movements on the ground. We see firsthand the struggles and challenges these movements face in their efforts to drive systemic change. But rather than feel daunted by these realities, we bring even more determination and optimistic energy to the work at hand. We’re enriched and strengthened as professionals and humans through our shared work together – we get way more than we give.
“No matter what the organization or the issues, committed Propheteers stepped up to the table with energy, expertise, humility and compassion to deconstruct thorny questions, unlock new insights and co-create positive strategies, programs, identities and narratives to move the work forward.”
Happy Pride. Happy 20th anniversary, Prophet Impact. Here’s to a new generation of leaders and the next 20 years of effort focused on helping to build a healthier, more compassionate and more just world.
3 Ways We’re Creating a Supportive Workplace for Women
To foster leadership and prevent burnout, Prophet keeps exploring new ways to lift women up.
It’s been a tough year for many women. The pandemic exposed how much support working women can use–and how shockingly little most receive. COVID-19 has sparked a “she-cession,” driving nearly three million women out of the labor force. And roughly one in four are considering quitting or downshifting. Even those dedicated to staying at work are paying the price. A new Stanford University study found that endless Zoom calls amplify longstanding gender dynamics and drive fatigue and exhaustion for women.
This situation has led to Prophet renewing its commitment to elevating women’s voices and finding new ways to build allyship with our colleagues, clients and communities. And we have reexamined what it means to support women at the firm.
Prophet Initiatives to Better Support Women
Over the past year, we’ve made several moves to provide better support to the women of Prophet. From fueling open discussions about the pandemic and social unrest to welcoming honesty and vulnerability – we’re creating a workplace where women can feel supported while reckoning with the emotional intensity of these events. Ways we’ve advanced our cause in the past year include:
Finding Flexible Forums
For decades, women have struggled to elevate their voices in large meetings. Video calls can make being heard even more difficult as it is hard to read body language and easy for users to get lost in the sea of squares. We’ve acknowledged this reality and have encouraged teams to take “pauses,” moments for women to speak, weigh-in, and have their voices heard.
We’ve established new virtual forums. Our weekly firm-wide “Pulse calls” bring our global community together, while smaller breakouts allow the space for everyone to share and contribute their thoughts. We’ve introduced one-on-one meetings through our Women in Leadership Mentorship network and small-group sessions to discuss and share around specific events, such as the recent targeted murders of Asian women in Atlanta.
Building Better Boundaries
Workplace disruption related to COVID-19 has created a burnout problem. A CNBC survey found that 65% of women believe work stress has worsened and more than half feel burned out. Lean In’s research shows women feel this exhaustion at up to twice the level as men.
As remote work blurs the lines between our professional and personal worlds, Prophet’s leadership team has tried to help build boundaries between the two. These are some of the ways we’ve offered support:
For the last several months, Prophet’s offices have closed on the last Friday of the month to provide employees with a dedicated time to rest, recharge and take a break – without having to return to a full inbox of items to respond to.
We’ve offered benefits that provide meaningful relief to parents, including a dependent care assistance program for households with children ages 0-13.
We’re improving parenting-specific policies, including offering more paid leave for parents.
And we’ve invited health and wellness experts to speak to our people on topics from setting boundaries to managing the challenges of remote education.
Unleashing Shared Passions
Despite spending the year physically apart, we’ve seen a surge in community building. Propheteers have demonstrated their care for listening, learning, and taking action through their participation as a member or ally to the firm’s employee resource groups like Women in Leadership, Pride at Prophet, Black@Prophet and Latinos at Prophet.
These groups have allowed our people to speak up and share what’s on their minds (both personally and professionally), educate peers on topics of passion, and reflect on recent events in the news. And these communities have created opportunities for associates at all levels to take on leadership roles and elevate their voices.
“We’re creating a workplace that women can feel supported while reckoning with the emotional intensity of these events.”
Some of these topics and discussions can be heavy, so we’ve looked for ways to brighten our days too. We started our first-ever Music League, which connects Propheteers through a shared passion for music, specifically the tracks that celebrate the different identities that make up our firm. For example, over Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March, Propheteers around the world submitted their favorite songs to playlists like “All the Singing Ladies,” “Motown Classics,” “Songs from Women (Or About Women) Who Shaped Our World,” which highlighted female artists who’ve made a substantial impact on the music industry.
Every woman is different, and no singular initiative will fit the needs of all female team members. We’ve learned this year that nuance is important. Each facet of our identities–race, class, education, religion, sexuality and parenthood–impacts how we show up for one another. More than ever, we need to acknowledge that.
While we know we have more work to do, we are proud of these steps we’ve taken toward a more equitable Prophet. We will continue to find more ways to elevate women’s voices and serve as true allies. We’re elevating women’s voices. We’re listening to what they have to say. We’re pushing back against broad-stroke assumptions. And we’re finding new ways to support one another in challenging times.
Why Leaders Should Turn to Historically Feminine-Coded Traits
Trust, compassion and the ability to collaborate used to be dismissed as weakness. We need them more than ever.
In the last year, between a renewed focus on racial injustice and the reality of a global pandemic, we have been challenged on our perspectives of ‘business as usual’ – including what we consider great leadership. We believe this is an opportunity to embrace – and prove – that a different way of leading is here to stay and we’re better off for it.
It is well-documented that we perceive leadership traits to be either more masculine-coded or more feminine-coded. For example, we associate being collaborative, cooperative or nurturing as feminine-coded, while being analytic, authoritative or ambitious is more masculine-coded. This “coding” has led to bias that has not historically supported women advancing in leadership. Amongst other things, this is because traits that are more traditionally feminine-coded, while seen as advantageous, are viewed to be “bonus” or “plus-ups” for leaders, versus being the core attributes required for success.
“In times of crisis, we look to our leaders for trust, compassion and collaboration— leadership dimensions that are all feminine coded.”
Enter the era of COVID, where we suddenly saw traditional models of leadership upended. The pandemic environment is highlighting the tremendous, and even mission-critical, benefit that more feminine-coded traits bring to the table. In times of crisis, we look to our leaders for trust, compassion and collaboration— leadership dimensions that are all feminine coded. (For more on this, there are many research studies to be found, but here and here are a couple of notable ones).
This might be why we have seen so many articles with titles like “Why Do Women Make Such Good Leaders During COVID-19?” But closer inspection shows us that it’s not just female leaders, it’s all leaders—regardless of gender—that are finding success in the current pandemic by exhibiting these historically feminine-coded traits.
No matter our gender identification, we can, and should, all lean into these more historically feminine-coded traits to have a critical impact. We see examples of this all around us right now, and they offer blueprints for better, more effective leadership:
Trust
Driving trust through transparency and focusing on facts have already been critical to strong leadership. However, a demonstrated comfort with uncertainty is one dimension of trust that has revealed itself at this moment. Gone are the days of defining leaders by their total certainty in what’s to come—vulnerability might, in fact, be the new marker of confidence. From German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s science-led explanations (that still acknowledge what’s unknown) to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s plainspoken Facebook briefings to San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s calm, early response, we find enormous comfort in a focus on known facts with a transparent acknowledgment of what we don’t know.
Compassion
During an election season filled with pain and uncertainty, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden showed compassion and empathy at each turning point. They found ways to connect with voters over a shared sense of loss rather than just focusing on what the Biden administration would do if elected. And by speaking so candidly about their tragedies, Biden was able to impact compassion, empathy and resilience as a human first, and as a leader second. Regardless of what political affiliation, he created a level of connection through this in a way perhaps historically “strong” leaders may not have and gave a sense of hope from the top-down.
Collaboration
Our historical views of a strong leader probably more often emphasized being a lone warrior, but it’s a willingness to listen to many different voices and to bring teams into decision-making that is providing comfort and calm in this environment of unknowns. Synchrony CEO Margaret Keene (long known for her inclusiveness) has explicitly noted how leaders must solicit and listen to many voices to successfully navigate the crisis. You can see her doing this, looking to external expertise to inspire and support her bold decision making, bringing in outside mental health support for employees and holding weekly company-wide calls with an infectious disease expert. She’s both leading the way and working with others to do so.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has been commended on the company’s handling of their recent layoffs. And in it, we can see elements of all of the above. He provides the facts about what went into the decision-making, and also, the unknowns remaining. He demonstrates empathy for his team and the pain this situation brings. And he builds and strengthens his community, calling on everyone to work together to support the exiting employees. He is leaning into all of these more feminine-coded traits to be a strong leader.
With all of the terrible things COVID has wrought, we also see many good things happening— clearer skies, an increase in kindness and the rapid digital transformation of businesses. We can only hope this revelation will be one such advancement: that our template for leadership becomes a more balanced aspiration, one that women and men alike can see themselves achieving.
As leaders at Prophet, we’ve been actively working to embed all of these traits into the way in which we work with our team. Have we done everything right? Probably not. But we’d like to believe that we, too, are making progress in learning the type of leadership skills and styles that will not only help us wade through the current crisis but make Prophet come out stronger on the other side. We hope all of you are doing the same, challenging traditional views of how we work together and finding ways to embrace a new, more inclusive normal.
At Prophet, we work with leaders across industries who are transforming businesses and growing their leadership skills to meet a new world. We believe that many voices and perspectives strengthen our work and the work of our clients, and we work internally and externally to advance inclusivity in leadership. If you have thoughts, comments, or questions related to these topics, please get in touch.
Prophet: The Indispensable Ally to Business Leaders
Uncommon growth requires purpose-led strategies, blending creativity, data and technology.
We strive to be an indispensable ally to our clients in their growth journeys, leaders who aspire to build brands, transform businesses and move society. This year has challenged us, as never before, to bring that purpose to life in new and innovative ways.
Many of our clients and employees came of age when the best solutions simply meant more sales and a stronger bottom line. Anything that increased a company’s return to shareholders counted as excellence. While the move to purpose-led growth and multi-stakeholder capitalism had already begun shifting businesses away from that narrow vein of thinking, the past year blew it up entirely.
What Does it Look Like to Have Prophet as Your Growth Partner?
Prophet draws on expertise around the world, with 600+ employees in 15 offices. And we work with a single global P&L that enables us to put a just-the-right expert in each client situation, whether our teammate is based in Austin, Hong Kong or Berlin.
From the ground up, we built Prophet to be your growth partner, driving high-impact digital transformation.
And all this consistently has helped us form enduring bonds with our clients. As Dr. Michael K. Stern, President and Chief Operating Officer, Climate at Monsanto, put it: “The Prophet team integrates themselves with the client – they felt like a part of the team and were completely aligned with what [the team] was trying to do.”
Our clients tell us we are responsive, supportive and thorough—a trusted extension of their teams.
These long-term relationships come from closely partnering with our clients, side-by-side, especially when the right path is the riskier one. Our Propheteers carefully cultivate these connections, blending creativity, data and technology in new ways to help our clients meet their growth goals.
Today, we know that is not enough.
Creating Enduring Bonds with Our Clients & Teams
“Indispensable” doesn’t mean the same thing it did a year ago and setting effective growth agendas can’t be the only goal. We build relevance–the kind that can only come from genuine purpose and empathy. That means we stand for companies that stand for something–and we’re here to push, prod and lead our clients to these new avenues of opportunity. What doors are opening in this changing environment? And how can we help clients find these purpose-driven transformations, nourished by digital and organizational change?
Our People Lead the Charge
This year, our unique team of thinkers, doers and makers increasingly challenged each other to share their entire perspective, including what it means to be gay, Black, immigrant or female. Those identities have always been there. But as we learn to be better allies to each other, the entirety of employees’ experience is helping us think more broadly and feel more deeply. We’re learning to be more empathic, compassionate and open-minded. Unsurprisingly, that’s allowing us to create even better solutions.
We’ve always tried to take our work seriously, but not ourselves. Our teams are recommitting to making life at Prophet positive, honest and supportive, bringing their most authentic selves to each experience. We’re not just indispensable allies to our clients. We’re indispensable allies to our colleagues, too. As much as we’re about respect, productivity and hard work, we’re also fans of irreverence, lightness and sincere pep talks. We’re here to enjoy the ride–and we expect our clients will, too.
How community building is helping all our colleagues learn more–and enjoy the ride.
Prophet entered 2021 with a firm commitment to diversity and inclusion. This included growing our beloved employee resource groups, or Prophet “ERGs” for short. Making up the fabric of our culture, these groups are dedicated to education and community-building – ultimately fostering a workplace where colleagues across identity groups feel valued, heard, seen and supported. They also demonstrate what it’s like to “Enjoy the Ride” at Prophet, where everyone is encouraged to bring their whole selves to the table.
Over the past couple of months, thanks to our Black@Prophet and Women in Leadership ERGS, Propheteers across the globe got to participate in (virtual) programming to honor and celebrate Black History Month, International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.
Celebrating Black History with Prophet’s New ERG – Black@Prophet
Black@Prophet was welcomed to Prophet’s ERG community in February and kicked off their activities with a variety of Black History Month content. Given the diverse backgrounds of the group, they felt it was important to shine a light on Black history and culture from a global perspective. Black Propheteers shared how Black history has shaped our world and dove deeper into topics like the creation and evolution of historically Black colleges and universities, supporting black-owned businesses and the untold history of some important Black heroes.
Prophet’s Music League also dedicated February to spotlight Black music artists. Propheteers submitted their favorite songs for categories such as “All The Singing Ladies” and “Black Voices Around the World.” Each Friday, Propheteers started their days jamming out to songs new and old – contributed by their colleagues. Since Black History Month, Black@Prophethas been planning “Listening Sessions,” which will be dedicated time for the community to knowledge share, develop programming and resources for Black employees and their allies. Also, already in the works? A celebration of Juneteenth.
All month long, Propheteers used special Zoom backgrounds highlighting important Black leaders – including Kizzmekia Corbett, Lebron James, Stacey Abrams, John Legend and Matthew Cherry.
WiL: Choosing to Challenge with Prophet’s Women in Leadership Team
In recognition of International Women’s Day, Propheteers participated in the #ChoosetoChallenge campaign and also spotlighted incredible women who are continuing to challenge the status quo across the globe. As part of the celebration, the Women in Leadership team partnered with the Black@Prophet and Pride at Prophet resource groups to write internal blog posts that highlighted the important intersectionality between these communities.
To spotlight changemakers across the globe, the Women in Leadership team collaborated with our Direct-to-Consumer vertical to highlight women-led brands that are dominating their industries while creating change along the way. The blog series also covered topics like allyship, perceptions of the glass ceiling and young female activists.
Over the coming months, Women in Leadership will continue to empower and promote women across the organization through Prophet’s internal mentorship programs, group discussions and by supporting other employee resource groups’ programming.
All month long, Propheteers enjoyed another set of specially-designed Zoom backgrounds highlighting important women leaders – including Greta Thunberg, Ozlem Tureci, Angela Merkel, Naomi Osaka, Amanda Gorman, Kamala Harris and Rachel Levine.
We look forward to welcoming more ERG’s into our community and celebrating the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our Propheteers. There will be more to come in the months ahead!
DEI at Prophet: Making Progress on an Important Journey
We’re taking steps to learn more, do better and expand our definition of diversity.
For several years, Prophet has been working hard to strengthen our commitment to diversity and inclusion. Pride at Prophet, a group celebrating and building a community around our LGBTQ employees and allies, is flourishing. While we still have a lot to do, we’ve accomplished much with our Women in Leadership effort as our junior partner team became more gender-balanced. But as Black Lives Matter protests swept the globe in May last year, we knew we had to take a new–and harder– look at our own community, culture and practices.
As we absorbed what was happening around us, we closed firmwide for a Day of Reflection in mid-June and then listened to how each of us as team members at Prophet thought about how we can better reflect inclusive and diverse voices and embed them more deeply into our processes and our culture. Since June, we’ve continued these conversations as we’ve gone deeper into our DEI work at both the local and global firmwide levels.
“It’s about challenging ourselves to make sure every solution we create for ourselves and our clients–every brand strategy, every customer experience, every organizational analysis–moves toward a more just and open world.”
We also conducted a global firmwide DEI survey to better understand our current realities and perceptions and where we most needed to focus first. With broad engagement across offices, levels and functions, the survey gave us a detailed view of how we can further become truly diverse, equitable and inclusive. While we were moving in the right direction with the work done so far, we knew we had to do more. We asked ourselves how we can better deliver on the promise of one of our values – to allow everyone to be “fearlessly human” creating the room, structures and space to bring their best selves to work every day.
So, we got to work. We made the effort more immersive and transparent. While a committed DEI Council continued to push on efforts, we aimed to make the dialogue and actions broader and more local – to fit the needs of each of our geographies. We started to push on existing processes where we can better embed the core principles of our DEI efforts.
We know that this is hard work and it is something that must be sustained. We want change to be meaningful and it is important to make this not just about hiring more people of color or donating money to a charity. It’s about challenging ourselves to make sure every solution we create for ourselves and our clients–every brand strategy, every customer experience, every organizational analysis–moves toward a more just and open world.
In this context, we can share that we are focused on some key areas:
Increase Expertise
No one knows better than we do that the right consultants can change everything. Even though a super passionate internal team has headed our DEI efforts, we knew we could benefit from professionals with deep experience and fresh insights. We retained Collective, specialists in DEI consulting, to help.
Together, we’re looking at new and better ways to engage our people, support their development, and recognize their achievements. We expect to have a full report on its recommendations soon, and this audit will help further refine areas in which we can make progress.
We are also in the process of identifying and hiring a Head of DEI, who will be 100 percent dedicated to this vital work – a first of its kind at Prophet.
Enhancing Our Definition of Diversity
Including more diverse voices in our team has always been a goal, but we are stepping up those efforts. First, we’re working harder on campuses, adding historically black colleges and universities to our regular recruitment outreach. We are also partnering with the Consortium, a nonprofit that promotes inclusion among MBA students.
We launched senior-level searches to diversify the executive team and at the partner level. And we are actively interviewing candidates for our Board, with additional outreach underway.
Overall, as part of our recruiting process, we’ve made sure that at every level, across every role, we have a diverse slate of candidates.
Learn More, Do Better
Awareness is an essential part of this process, and during the fall, almost 90 percent of Prophet employees have completed microaggressions training to understand better the many ways bias can affect the Prophet community members. Importantly, this training also addresses what people can do about it–either when they make a mistake themselves or witness one.
From there, we are now beginning to deploy our next employee training focused on becoming better allies to our coworkers, with the aim to have everyone go through the training in Q1.
Support Racial Justice
In addition to our internal work, we are excited to be doing more to promote justice externally. In September, we also activated Prophet Impact (formerly P4NP – Prophet for Nonpofit) with a racial justice track that identified areas where we can do more pro-bono consulting with organizations dedicated to the fight for equality. Our intent is to make this a regular program rather than an opportunistic one, with clear budgets, goals and active management.
Measure Progress
All of this requires us to measure our progress and we all know metrics matter. The DEI survey we conducted has not only served to inform areas of focus but also to create a starting set of metrics for us to measure ourselves against. It probed four primary DEI dimensions–respect, belonging, evaluation/progression and commitment, and captured demographic information, now on our intranet, to track progress on representation. This data is feeding and informing our plan for the new year and beyond.
In the weeks and months ahead, we expect to do more and share more. Prophet has long been built on a commitment to “Many voices. One team.” We all have a strong desire to make this a holistic reality. We are excited to have a passionate team across the globe working together to make us a better firm – more inclusive and more diverse than ever.
Reflections on Prophet’s Listing as a ‘Best Firm to Work For’
This challenge is teaching us to think even more deeply about what it means to nurture and develop talent.
Our values vibrate throughout our organization. We see this in the way our teams support one another and the way we show up for clients. We are fiercely committed to offering quality solutions to challenging business problems while holding on tight to our humanity in the process. Clients often note Propheteers’ ability to deliver high-quality thinking and solutions, without compromising their best selves. It is the depth with which people embrace, build upon and live our values, that has led Prophet to be honored with a ‘Best Firm to Work For’ award by Consulting Magazine.
Given this honor, I wanted to take the time to reflect on this past year – a whirlwind of a year like none other.
We’re all continuing to adapt to these challenging times – both in the consulting industry and in our personal lives. What’s most fascinating is the crossover between the work we are doing internally to keep Prophet’s business moving forward and the ways we are supporting and guiding our clients. At the beginning of the pandemic, Prophet took swift, empathetic actions to address the sudden changes in the market. As we uncovered solutions that worked for our business, we’ve been able to share ideas to help our clients find their footing at the same time.
Along the way, we’ve learned that no one can eliminate risks. But if we can find ways to be empathetic, transparent and supportive as we navigate this context together, we can strengthen our bonds, elevate our sense of community and feed off of each other’s energy to unlock the strength we need now and in the days ahead. By focusing on our people and our relationships with clients, we became more comfortable leaning on one another and navigating this together. We became more confident in our intentions and our commitment to moving forward.
Maintaining morale by putting our people & culture first
Morale has remained remarkably strong. We’ve truly seen a collective spirit of resilience. This “fearlessness” – one of our company values – has always existed in our people, but we are seeing it play out in tremendous, fresh ways. We’re piloting new tools and programs for remote working, pivoting in-person client events to become engaging digital experiences and teaming and collaborating in new ways across disciplines and geographies. Our biggest business transformation project to date was launched in June without traveling to the client for months.
Our people are the life force that powers our business. And we’ve even seen resilience in fostering those relationships and finding unique ways to keep our culture alive. We asked a focused team to take this “culture and morale” issue head-on, and they helped us design new, fresh ways to engage our employees, build community and connectedness without the usual constructs of offices and typical gathering places. They’ve created new experiences that will become of the Prophet traditions of tomorrow, like a “Prophet Rocks” virtual concert from teammates (and their families) around the globe, the Prophet Summer Olympics, a soon-to-be-launched Prophet TikTok Dance Challenge, and so many more. We also created space for weekly “Global Pulse Checks”; a time set aside for the entire firm to gather virtually as a community to unpack current events, share “kudos”, celebrate holidays and milestones and learn from and about one another.
But we also recognize that morale has its own ebbs and flows. The pandemic has put enormous strains on our people – both at work and at home. Over the past six months, we’ve encouraged our people to take the time they need to reflect, refresh and focus on their mental health. And we focused more and more on creating spaces to welcome and facilitate ongoing dialogue, both in formal and informal ways. We listened as our colleagues grieved over Black lives lost to racism and demanded Prophet do more in the fight for racial equality. We’ve learned that the best way to maintain morale is through open and honest communication. That the more we can communicate, the better we can do for everyone– employees, their families and communities, our clients and society.
Being two years into our own firm transformation has elevated our focus
We began to accelerate our firm’s transformation agenda at the beginning of 2019. We created a Transformation Management Office devoted to aligning our efforts and strategy with our longer-term aspirations. We reconnected with who we wanted to be (an indispensable ally that helps our clients unlock uncommon growth), expanded our superpowers, built upon our strengths and embraced a period of internal growth. Through these efforts, Propheteers have come to embrace a ‘growth mindset,’ which helped us manage the ‘growing pains,’ discover agile ways of working and refreshed our sense of purpose.
We were happy we started this ambitious transformation when we did – as a large focus of it was our own digital transformation and upskilling employees on all things digital. Of course, as we adapted to the global pandemic, we were pleased that a lot of our digital processes were already in place, which made the transition to remote work easier.
“Our people are the life force that powers our business.”
As a leadership team, we remain committed to growing and adapting our offerings to shifting client needs, accelerating our growth momentum and developing a robust incubator and innovation pipeline with net-new offers and IP. We are excited to have the operational and financial strength to continue to invest in this transformation agenda in 2021 and beyond.
Strengthening our commitment to building a diverse, equitable & inclusive workplace
Most recently, we’ve put more investment behind our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts and we know that doing so will play an instrumental role in our long-term growth as a firm. It’s another reason for our people to be proud and energized to be here. We have lots of work to do, but we have already engaged actively: Prophet is working to increase our diversity representation, we are developing firmwide training programs focused on antiracism, microaggressions, inclusivity and bias and we are donating $4 million of our pro-bono hours to organizations committed to racial justice.
Our DEI efforts are a large focus for the next six to 12 months. We are currently working with Collective, an outside DEI consulting firm, to evaluate the results of our firm-wide DEI survey, to audit our internal systems and processes and to help deploy a new DEI strategy for Prophet. We’ve rolled out an employee training on unconscious bias and microaggressions and look forward to embracing the other educational opportunities our Learning & Development team is putting together.
Our people team is busy recruiting top talent – including a new Head of DEI for our firm. Our employee resource groups – Women in Leadership, Pride at Prophet and Black at Prophet – are continuing to develop programs that drive the community and advance our inclusivity. Additionally, our offices are hosting monthly ‘Listening Sessions’ to create a space for honest and important conversations on the local level. We know that by making DEI a top business priority, Prophet’s business will only grow. And as we learn more, we will grow better, together.
2020 is a year that has tested us all in such profound and unexpected ways. If anything, this honor gives us an opportunity to take a step back to reflect on the resilience of our team, our culture and our clients in this extraordinary year and express our gratitude. The firm is changing and the change is powered by innovative ideas, new methods and digitally-powered workflows. This evolution is springing up organically all around the globe because everyone feels empowered to lead, innovate and change. Nothing lifts the spirit of people more during trying times than having the ability to drive meaningful, purposeful, high-impact work that improves the lives of people, communities and institutions.
So yes, we will use this as an opportunity to celebrate with our teams. Thank you to everyone for the continued energy, positivity and commitment that fuels our Prophet community and allows our teams to deliver smart, creative and innovative growth moves for our clients.
